PDRA in Monitoring of Plankton using AI Technology

Location: SAMS, Oban

Contract Type: Fixed Term : 2 years

Working Pattern: Full Time

Salary : £32,546 - £33,482 per annum

Closing date: Monday 12th October 2026

The Role :

The candidate will be working on a an SEUPB Acclimatise project, a project supported by PLEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) that seeks to study plankton-climate interactions in Irish shelf sea systems. SAMS currently operates two automated plankton counters (Imaging Flowcytobots - IFCBs) for the real time collection, enumeration and reporting of phytoplankton data. Within Acclimatise the lead partner (AFBI) is purchasing an IFCB for either or both of shore- and boat-based deployments.

The postholder will be based at SAMS but be responsible for supporting AFBI in the commissioning and operation of their IFCB.

SAMS has developed an AI based classifier to allow the taxonomic identification of collected phytoplankton images. The postholder will maintain and develop this classifier and the existing software systems for data collection transfer and storage and the web-based dashboard used for data dissemination.

The postholder will also contribute to the analysis of collected data and write up for project reports and scientific publication.

The successful candidate will be based at SAMS (although remote working may be possible) and will interact regularly with AFBI staff with periodic visits to Belfast and possible occasional seagoing.

We are looking for a highly motivated Post-Doctoral Researcher who will bring their skills and enthusiasm to provide high-quality outputs. A PhD related to relevant a marine / environmental science / computing topic is essential.

Successful candidates will require the following skills and experience;

• Experience with a web framework (e.g. Django, Flask, Laravel, Next.js) - this role specifically uses Django
• Familiarity with programming languages (e.g. Python, Bash)
• Linux systems administration - comfortable deploying and managing an application, setting up data pipelines
• Hands-on machine learning/AI experience training or fine-tuning image classification models (e.g. using PyTorch or similar
• Knowledge of phytoplankton ecology & marine instrumentation.

Our relatively small, caring community is an ideal environment for making friends, forming collaborations, and supporting each other to do the work that we really care about. Oban and surrounding areas provide a fantastic base to live and work, and we offer a wide range of employee benefits, support and inclusive culture, making SAMS a great place to work.

Our employees are the heart of our business. Recruiting and retaining the right people is the key to our success. Rewarding our employees is therefore an important component of our employment package and we have a wide range of benefits on offer to staff to support your work and lifestyle.

We are proud to provide a wide variety of benefits year-round, offering options to best support our staff, such as: flexible & hybrid working options, purchase of additional annual leave, shopping discounts, Cycle 2 Work scheme, purchases of technology through salary sacrifice, Payroll Giving, Pensions Plus, access to portals to support health and wellbeing, a sabbatical scheme, free car parking with access to electronic charging points as well as access to a number of training & development courses.

Additionally, SAMS encourages and recognises excellence among staff through various recognition and reward arrangements. We are striving to constantly develop and expand the benefits and offers for our colleagues.

We are a Disability Confident Employer. Where a candidate requires reasonable adjustments as part of the application process, we encourage you to…